World Bank is useless: Dr Mahathir

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad described the World Bank as “useless”, saying today that it was politically motivated for putting out a report that pro-Bumiputera policies are stunting the country’s economy.

The former prime minister said the World Bank report was politically motivated as it wanted a change of prime minister.

“We have been critical of the World Bank since my time. We said that they were useless. They dislike us and want to have their good friend become prime minister”, seemingly referring to Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, a former chairman of its development committee.

The World Bank said on Thursday that more than one million Malaysians live abroad as policies favoring the Malays are holding back the economy, causing a brain drain and limiting foreign investment.

World Bank senior economist Philip Schellekens was quoted as saying that foreign investment could be five times the current levels if the country had Singapore’s talent base.

He said Malaysian migration was increasingly becoming a skill migration with one-third of the one million-strong Malaysian diaspora now consisting of the tertiary educated and expected the trend to continue.

World Bank is useless: Dr Mahathir

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad described the World Bank as “useless”, saying today that it was politically motivated for putting out a report that pro-Bumiputera policies are stunting the country’s economy.

The former prime minister said the World Bank report was politically motivated as it wanted a change of prime minister.

“We have been critical of the World Bank since my time. We said that they were useless. They dislike us and want to have their good friend become prime minister”, seemingly referring to Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, a former chairman of its development committee.

The World Bank said on Thursday that more than one million Malaysians live abroad as policies favoring the Malays are holding back the economy, causing a brain drain and limiting foreign investment.

World Bank senior economist Philip Schellekens was quoted as saying that foreign investment could be five times the current levels if the country had Singapore’s talent base.

He said Malaysian migration was increasingly becoming a skill migration with one-third of the one million-strong Malaysian diasporas now consisting of the tertiary educated and expected the trend to continue.

Japan economy contraction in Jan-June 2011

Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said the country’s economy will likely shrink in the first half of 2011 due mainly to stalled output in the wake of Japan’s March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the Wall Street Journal reported today.

“We are now expecting production and GDP will decline in the first quarter and the second quarter,” Shirakawa said in the interview conducted yesterday, echoing the views of most private-sector economists who also see a first half contraction.

The focus is now on how quickly the Japanese economy will return to growth. This largely depends on when supply chain disruptions will ease and to what degree power shortages could affect factory output during the peak summer period.

Shirakawa was quoted as saying supply constraints would likely continue at least until August before recovering.

“Once supply capacity is recovered, then the Japanese economy is moving back to the original growth path,” Shirakawa said in the interview.

The BOJ is expected to hold off on any further easing of monetary policy next week but will likely reiterate its readiness to act if the quake’s damage threatens Japan’s return to a moderate economic recovery.

In a twice-yearly outlook report to be issued at next week’s rate review, the BOJ will cut its economic forecast for the current fiscal year, which began on April 1, from its January projection of 1.6 per cent growth to reflect the impact of the quake, sources familiar with the BOJ’s thinking have told Reuters.

But many in the bank agree with the dominant market view that Japan will avoid a contraction for the full fiscal year as growth is expected to pick up from around autumn. — Reuters

Brush aside the demands of the Chinese: Sarawak Perkasa

The Sarawak chapter of right-wing Malay rights group Perkasa told BN to brush aside the demands of the Chinese and focus instead on “reinstating” the rights and privileges of the bumiputeras in the state.

Sarawak Perkasa chief Abang Abdul Nasser Abang Hadari said the Chinese have betrayed the ruling coalition by “membalas susu dengan tuba” (repaying milk with poison)," he said in a statement.

“Ever since Perkasa was launched in Sarawak, it has never questioned any claims by the Chinese, as a sign of respect for the 1Malaysia concept.

“The Chinese community should blame Pakatan Rakyat, and even more so DAP, if Sarawak's pribumi community deny all their demands.”

Abang Abdul implied support for Utusan's views, calling on the federal and Sarawak governments to realize the special rights for pribumis in Sabah and Sarawak by, among others, replacing the New Economic Policy with an affirmative action policy tailored for them.

His other demands include:
i. Realising non-Muslim bumiputeras' rights to practise their religion, while respecting Islam as the nation's official religion
ii. Ensuring all pribumis enjoy access to basic infrastructure such as electricity, water and clinics
iii. Automatic scholarships for bumiputeras in Sabah and Sarawak who achieve the minimum requirements to enter college and universities
iv. Special leeway for bumiputera students in public universities for all critical courses
v. Ensure that projects and contracts for bumiputera contractors and companies are issued transparently and effectively to allow ease of monitoring

“Perkasa congratulates Sarawak's pribumis and the BN government under the leadership of Abdul Taib Mahmud and his elected representatives for winning their respective constituencies,” he added.

“BN must retain its fixed deposit in Sarawak, and not allow anyone to disturb or challenge it.”

2-party system based on race strive by DAP will not contribute to stability, says Dr M

The former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Malaysia faces a grave danger of being divided by two parties — one Malay dominated by default and the other Chinese by choice.

This will not be good for Malaysia. But this is what the DAP is striving for. A two-party system based on race will not contribute to stability much less national unity.

He accused DAP of destroying the power-sharing formula that Barisan Nasional had implemented for half a century.

He wrote in his blog that the Chinese community in Sarawak has rejected multiracialism after being infected by the virus of Chinese racism that he said is the guiding principle of the DAP.

He also suggested that any DAP administration would only be ostensibly Malaysian.

“I congratulate the DAP for bringing its racist politics to Sarawak. Before this all races co-operated well with each other for the good of Sarawak. Now we see clearly that the Chinese community in Sarawak has rejected multiracialism.”

“They have become infected by the virus of Chinese racism that is the guiding principle of the DAP. If the same pattern was seen in the next general election that is expected to be held in a year, it would split the country."

“Those Chinese who reject the DAP seem to be considered as non-Chinese by the DAP. The presence of a few Malays in the DAP is just window dressing,” he said.

He again accused the DAP of emulating Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) in sidelining the Malays.

“It is the same as in Singapore where the PAP government sidelined their Malay supporters completely. The Malays make up 15 per cent of the island’s population but their share of political power and wealth of this very prosperous nation is about one per cent.

“Of course, Singapore is ruled by Singaporeans. The same would happen in Malaysia should the DAP rule this country. It would be ostensibly being Malaysian,” he added.

Utusan:BN can still win in the general election without the support of the Chinese community

Utusan Malaysia has told Barisan Nasional (BN) to ignore the Chinese community for not supporting the ruling coalition during yesterday’s Sarawak elections.

BN’s Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) lost more than two-thirds of the 19 seats it contested in a snub by the tiny but vociferous China commuity.

In its weekend edition Mingguan Malaysia, columnist Awang Selamat stressed that re-elected Sarawak chief minister Tan Sri Taib Mahmud’s new cabinet will reflect the “reality of the ballot box.”

“The average Chinese voters have rejected BN and supported DAP. Therefore the BN state government can no longer be too generous to give place to representatives from the community. Sarawak cabinet must be reflective of the decisions and attitude of the voters.

“Clear message must be sent. Taib must show gratitude to those that supported him and BN government,” said Awang in his article “New Reality.” The columnist, whose pseudonym is used by Utusan editors, said that BN leaders must learn from the state election when preparing for the national polls.

“Once again, the attitude of the Chinese voters is clear in rejecting BN. Awang believes that sentiment of Chinese voters in the peninsular is also the same. The reality is that after dominating the economy for so long, the Chinese community wants to have greater influence and become a dominant political force.

“The campaign to change the state government seems to only be accepted by a majority of the Chinese voters. The Bumiputera community still remains strong with BN,” Awang added.

He said that BN must formulate a new strategy without depending on the support of the Chinese voters. Awang said the ruling coalition must not fall into a trap of granting every demands of the community if they continue to vote for DAP.

“Let the support come naturally. If the Chinese voters continue to reject BN then we should not worry as there will be a way out,” Awang said. The columnist also said that BN can still win in the general election without the support of the Chinese community.

“What is important is to empower the voters that are already loyal supporters. We should not pursue what we cannot get. The potential for BN to win is still huge with the growing support of the Bumiputeras, Malays, Indian and other ethnic communities.

“If there is additional support from a small percentage of Chinese voters then that is a bonus. All parties must be ready with the new reality,” said Awang.

Yuan to be used more in trade, says China central bank chief

BOAO, China, April 16 — China’s yuan will be used more often for settling trade in future if the dollar proves “unstable”, Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), said today.

The yuan will be fully convertible one day but there is no timetable for that, Zhou also told a briefing on the sidelines of the Boao Forum for Asia on the tropical Chinese island of Hainan. He added that China was still under-represented at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in terms of the size of the Chinese economy. — Reuters

Iran Opec Governor: Global oil market over supplied

TEHRAN, April 9 — Iran sees the global oil market as over supplied, despite prices that have been pushed up by upheaval in the Middle East, its Opec governor was quoted as saying in a newspaper today.

“Not only is there not a shortage of supply in the oil market but there is 1 million barrels (per day) of excess supply,” Mohammad Ali Khatibi told the Sharq daily in an interview in which he also warned that prices would continue to increase if the Libyan crisis persisted and would “explode” if there were any security problems in Saudi Arabia.. — Reuters